T458STA Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Hi there I am having to purchase my second radiator for my 99 TD5 Defender in 3 weeks due to damage after wading in a ford/small river. Both times the water was no more than 1.5 foot deep and I did not approach the water or drive through the water quckly. It has damaged the radiator on the engine side near the bottom. I do not know whether it is water pressure building up between the block and the radiator, cold water against the radiator or some debris getting up there and causing damage. The damage is such that any water that is put in the expansion tank come sttright out of the radiator. There is no other damage in that area and the fan is ok. Has anyone got any ideas what might be causing this and how I can avoid it in the future? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishbosh Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 I would suggest that if it is damaged the engine side of the rad then it is debris being trapped between the fan and the rad which then is pulled round by the fan causing the damage. Or, the fan itself is deformed by having to turn through water and the blades themselves are hitting the rad. Is the rad in the right place relative to the fan? The fan nees to be close, but not that close! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_d Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 The nature of the damage should give some sort of clue as to how it was caused. If the rad is 'new', rather than a second hand, replacement then a repair should be fairly easy either by soldering, if copper, or epoxy resin if ali. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotian Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 I broke two radiators in 2 days due to debris (the second one was broken by the fan that was damaged by the debris from the day before) so now I have a steel mesh between the electric fan and the radiator so nothing can touch it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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